26 February 2010

By Stefania Caterina

The time of Lent has begun; it is a time of intense preparation for Easter. I believe that we all have the wish to follow Jesus in His Paschal passage from death to life; a passage that awaits each one of us in all circumstances of life. In fact, we know very well that our existence is filled with circumstances that are often not ideal. In the family, at work, in the relationships with others, in the various difficulties we encounter daily we can choose to suffer the events passively or do what Jesus did: transform each trial into a victory, every death into a resurrection. How? By offering to God our difficulties, by lifting up our heart and our thoughts to Him and by praying faithfully and firmly, believing that He can transform evil into good through His great love for us.

Often we pray for something that is important for us; yet, sometimes we do not receive it; consequently, we feel disappointed and start arguing with the Lord. Personally, through the trials of life, I have understood that the profound meaning of prayer is not to ask God to realise the solutions that we have in mind. The meaning of prayer is to present every situation to God, leave it in His hands and allow Him to solve everything according to His mind, which is definitely superior to ours.

While I was praying, on 28 February, 2001, Ash Wednesday, I received a message from the Holy Spirit. I will share it with you as I think it may accompany you on your Lenten pathway. I truly hope that you will be able to feel Jesus’ closeness in this time so that you perceive Him alive and Risen in your spirit, not only at Easter but every day of your life.

 

Message of the Holy Spirit of 28 February 2001

“I bless you at the beginning of Lent so that your understanding of the Mystery may deepen more and more.

As children of God and children of the resurrection, you are called to go through death and the underworld in order to overcome both of them. Do not worry about when and how this will take place; just be aware that you have received the grace for such a task, which you will not have to fulfil alone but I will do it in you and through you. I want to show you a few steps to take.

Above all, I ask you not to worry. The more you will be asked, the more the grace you need will be given to you. God never asks you to take steps that are beyond your possibilities. Therefore, try to remove all worries.

I advise you to follow Jesus particularly in this period: you will hear in the Liturgy how Jesus prepared Himself to go through death and enter His glory. Follow Him as your Master and Shepherd; follow Him by imitating His life. I invite you to conform your life more and more to the Spirit of Christ, to be more and more like Him, to be transformed through Him, allowing Him to reign in you, as this is the Kingdom of God.

I ask you to trust in God’s life that rests in you despite your weakness. Make every effort never to lose your self-confidence. Know how to give yourselves the right value; judge yourselves worthy of the Lord because He has called you. Without esteeming yourselves better or worse, be aware that you are a temple of God; therefore, with My help and My guidance, try to reach and have a fair view of yourselves.

Also, try o avoid things, people and situations that crush you and prevent you from discovering the dignity of children of God in you. Satan’s first aim is to deprive man of his dignity as child of God. Therefore, have confidence in yourselves as children of God, loved and chosen by Him. You are instruments in the hand of God even though the instrument as such cannot be perfect; the One who makes it work is perfect. I ask you to have this kind of trust in God and confidence in yourselves as instruments of God.

Seriously endeavour to give up your sins. I know that you are committed to improving yourselves, but that is not enough: it is also necessary that you do not remain paralysed by sin. Therefore, I advise you not to shut yourselves up as in a prison; give Me the keys of your spirit so that I may open the doors to give you back your freedom. It is my task to take you out of sin and death, but often you do not collaborate with Me, and thus you remain trapped in your sins. Allow Me to liberate you all  the time as this is what  your Creator wants; He wants you to be free because He has created you free.

You often make the mistake of judging yourselves, and this hurts you a lot. Instead, understand that it is not up to you to judge, not even yourselves. It will be God to judge every sin. I tell you therefore not to humiliate yourselves more than necessary and not to blame yourselves so much as to hurt yourselves. Try instead to look at your sins and your weaknesses to offer them to God so that He may help you overcome them without traumas and needless forcing.

I invite you to be merciful to your neighbour; to look at the sins and limits of others in the way you look at your own: with love and calm and without judging. Let the Master judge His servant; you just move forward. Try not to shut yourselves up in other people’s sins; try not to be scandalised and not to judge sins. Leave everything in the hands of God who has the keys to the abyss within every person.

Offer to God the sins of humanity in the way Jesus did. Then, you will be priests of the Kingdom of God together with Christ, instruments of salvation and a bridge of light between God and humanity.

Regarding renunciations and fasting, I advise you to be balanced. God asks you to be balanced in everything. He is not interested in demonstrations of strength or human heroism when you do penance. God is pleased even with small renunciations. Know that your open heart to Him is what God pleases most: your deep conversion is, in fact, true renunciation. True surrender is giving up yourselves and your egoism: all that prevents you from reaching God.

I ask you again to give Me the keys of your life and not to resist My action. Man is obsessed with locking the door to his soul and keeping the keys in his pocket. Instead, I recommend you to give Me the keys of your soul so that I may open or close your innermost rooms according to your needs, which only I thoroughly know. I open your innermost rooms to let you get out of yourselves; I close them to protect you from evil. All has to be kept in perfect balance in you: the giving and the closing of yourselves when it is necessary. I am not talking about closure in a negative sense, of course, but as a protection from evil. Therefore, forget to have those keys in your pocket and give them to Me.

The steps that I have indicated to you are important; endeavour to put them into practice! I bless you; I bless your Lenten path and all those who are dear to you. If you follow the Master, you will also be masters for others, but remember: to be masters you must first become disciples. When you are perfect disciples, you will also be masters.

I bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”